Get on Santa's 'nice list' this season

Members of the Stephen F. Austin State University community have a way to get on Santa’s “nice list” just in time for the holidays. The students of the Freshmen Leadership Academy are inviting all faculty and staff at SFA to participate in “PURPLE SANTA.” Participants are to provide new, unwrapped toys to help local children in need have a brighter holiday season.

“Purple Santa” will visit offices around campus to collect toys Thursday, Dec. 2, and Friday, Dec. 3. Clad in a purple Santa suit, he will visit groups who have signed up in advance. If you wish to participate, please e-mail Adam Peck at peckae@sfasu.edu to arrange a pick-up time for either day. Each group that donates toys to the cause will receive a special gift and will appear on Santa’s “nice list,” published in SFA Today throughout the week of Dec. 6.

Donated toys will be provided to homeless children at Godtel Shelter and to low income children in Nacogdoches and Nacogdoches County. This event can provide a fun and festive treat for your office. Santa will be available to pose for pictures with individuals and groups.

Cash donations also are being accepted. For more information or to drop off cash donations, visit the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs on the third floor of the Baker Pattillo Student Center, Room 3.105. For more information about donations in general, call (936) 468-7249.

MLK Day of Service volunteers, mentors needed

Faculty and staff members are needed to serve as mentors for MLK Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. In its second year, SFA students are asked to give a day on their day off and help the SFA community on MLK Day.

This year's theme is "Legacy: What's Yours?" and will team student volunteers with area retirement homes. Students will get the chance to help and interact with area senior citizens and help to produce bingo days, sock-hop dances and other fun activities. More

News & Announcements

The Disney College Program will be hosting two information sessions to provide information to interested students! Please encourage your students to join us!
The Disney College Program offers an amazing opportunity for students from every major to build life-long skills and open doors to many future career possibilities! Come by one of the presentations to learn more about the Disney College Program and all of the benefits a Disney internship offers to SFA students! Feel free to learn more about this program online at wdwcollegeprogram.com, or contact Haley Hoskins at hoskinshm@sfasu.edu if you have any questions!

The program credits consist of a one-hour continuing education program entitled "Healthy Indoor Air Quality By Design." The program qualifies as one HSW LU (Health, Safety & Welfare) for AIA continuing education, 0.1 CEU for IDCEC continuing education (ASID/IIDA) and one - ECH for CSI continuing education. For more information, please contact Shannin Williams at designcenter@sfasu.edu or Sally Ann Swearingen at sswearingen@sfasu.edu. Hope to see you there!

The 30-minute presentation on Indian culture will be given by one of the international students at SFA. Snacks, drinks and authentic Indian desserts will be served. The presentation will be followed by an informal discussion and question and answer period. Everyone is welcome! This is the second event in a monthly series of Global Gateway events hosted by the Office of International Programs. For more information, please contact the Office of International Programs at (936) 468-6631.

Novelist, short story writer and essay writer Claire Davis will present the inaugural Karle Wilson Baker and Charlotte Baker Montgomery Lecture series at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, at the Early Child Research Center, Room 212. Her lecture topic is "Landscape and the Writer," concerning the aesthetic and ethical links authors make to their locales. The event is co-sponsored by the Stephen F. Austin State University Press and the English Department. A book signing for Davis will be held at the culmination of the lecture, and copies of Karle Wilson Baker's "Dreamers on Horseback," newly republished by SFA Press, will also be available.

A conference to bring together health, education, social scientists, social service professionals, pastors, public officials and researchers in the Nacogdoches area to explore the relationship among issues of faith, the victim’s concept of God and one’s ability to deal with the long-term effects of trauma.Learn more!

The Department of Chemistry will be celebrating the acquisition of its new JEOL 400 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectrometer by hosting two lectures by Dr. Ben Shoulders, Director of the University of Texas NMR Laboratory. The noon lecture will be a technical presentation on “Using NMR Relaxation Time as an Alternative to X-Ray Crystallography." The second lecture will be for a more general audience. Its topic is “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): How does it work and what can you see?” Light refreshments will be served prior to the general presentation at 3:30 p.m. For more information, please contact Dr. Anthony Duben at (936) 468-1568 or dubenaj@sfasu.edu.

The topic of D'Souza's speech is "Islam and Christianity Amidst International Turmoil: Is Religion to Blame?" D'Souza recently was named president of King's College in New York City and continues to write best-selling books, tour the lecture circuit and participate in debates. More

College of Fine Arts Events and Exhibits

The SFA Percussion Ensemble will present its annual fall concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus. The varied program includes a large ensemble work depicting different episodes in a day at war, a contemporary marimba quartet and a theatrical piece performed on old drum heads. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2.50 for faculty/staff and $2 for students.

SFA School of Art’s Art Day
All Day | Friday, Nov. 5 | SFA Campus

High school senior art students from across the state of Texas and their teachers will attend the SFA School of Art’s Art Day. The students will experience a day of college art classes taught by SFA art faculty, and teachers will learn more about SFA’s art degrees.

As part of its monthly independent film series, the SFA School of Art and Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free one-night screening of Ike: A Documentary at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St. in downtown Nacogdoches. Created by the Hurricane Story Tellers of Galveston’s Ball High School, the film chronicles the inspirational efforts of Galveston’s citizens to rebuild their community in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. A panel discussion with some of the filmmakers follows the screening. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.

The SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music will present the Moores School Percussion Ensemble in a free concert at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus. Winner of the 2010 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition, the University of Houston group will perform a preview of its upcoming convention showcase concert.

The SFA Madrigal Singers will present a fall concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus. Under the direction of Dr. Tim King, the highly select 16-voice ensemble will sing songs from musical periods ranging from the Renaissance to present day. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $2.50 for faculty/staff and $2 for students.

The SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art will close Fired Up: Three Regional Artists Take a Contemporary Look at Clay with an artists reception at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12 in Griffith Gallery. The three artists whose work is included in the show--Barbara Frey of Texas A&M Commerce, Ken Baskin of McNeese State University, and Janet Kaestner of the University of Texas at Austin—will be present at the reception. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.

Ongoing Exhibition
Recent works of art in a variety of media are on display in the SFA Faculty Exhibition in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St. in downtown Nacogdoches. The always-popular annual exhibition, which includes works by the SFA studio art faculty, enables East Texans to see the vast pool of talent within the school. The show has been extended through Saturday, Nov. 13. Regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.

Ongoing ExhibitionFired Up: Three Regional Artists Take a Contemporary Look at Clay is being exhibited in Griffith Gallery, Room 208 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building on campus through Friday, Nov. 12. The exhibition brings together new works by some of the best clay sculptors in Texas and Louisiana: Ken Baskin of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La., Barbara Frey of Texas A&M Commerce, and Janet Kastner of the University of Texas at Austin. Gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.

Ongoing Exhibition
Message from Siberia, which includes 25 works on paper by four nationally and internationally known Siberian artists, is currently being exhibited in the Reavley Gallery of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St. The show, which is one half of an art exchange between the SFA School of Art and the current director of the Moscow Bienale, will run through Tuesday, Nov. 23. Admission is free. Regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, please call (936) 468 1131.